1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Wedding Band. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?” We are in a city by the sea in South Carolina in 1918 on a summer Saturday. The characters involved in the beginning include include the protagonist Julia, her lover Herman, their neighbors Lula, Fanny, Mattie, and Mattie’s daughter, Teeta, along with Princess, a white child whom Mattie cares for.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? NOTE: Arguments might be made for several different points where stasis is broken. Be prepared to defend your point of view, if different from other students. I believe that the intrusion is when Herman falls ill with influenza, causing his sister, Annabelle, and his mother, Thelma, to enter the play.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? The time that the events take place is unique because it speaks to the challenges of an interracial couple long before the civil rights movement. As well, the play is set against the backdrop of South Carolina in 1918, when it was illegal for interracial couples to marry.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.) “Will Julia’s and Herman’s relationship survive the racism?”. “Can they brave the prejudice that surrounds them?” And after the intrusion, “will Herman survive?”.
5. Use Julia to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken by that character. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Wedding Band the wants of Julia are in flux. They change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual or individuals, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles in the play. I think it’s clear that at the beginning of the play, Julia wants 2 things: to marry Herman and to be accepted by those around her. In the case of the beginning of the play, she wants to be accepted by her new neighbors. This means that the obstacle in her way is society. The society of the South at the time made it impossible for her to marry Herman, but because she lives with him, and has for 10 years, she is isolated from much of society, even other African Americans. When Herman falls ill, Julia wants him to survive the sickness and she wants them to be free of all the racial prejudice that has affected and separated both of them. This again leaving Julia to face off against society.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Wedding Band. The most theatrical moments are when Herman falls ill, when Herman’s mother comes in, Julia and Herman’s mother shout insults at each other, and in the end, when Herman is dying in Julia’s arms.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Wedding Band. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”) First of all, as the title suggests, the wedding band is important because it symbolizes marriage. I think it’s important to note that Julia wears it on a chain around her neck, it’s seen as something close, but not attained. She cannot wear the wedding band and be legally married because of the laws, and is forced to wear it only as a necklace. Another image is of Jacob’s ladder. It’s mentioned in a song Julia sings, and it references the Bible passage where Jacob dreams of a ladder that connects the earth to heaven. Julia makes the connection that on her way to heaven, she has to climb each rung one by one, on her own, highlighting her own struggle to feel accepted by others and free from God’s judgement. Another image is of the ferry boat and New York. At the end of the story, Julia describes to a dying Herman, the image of them leaving on the ferry boat to start a new life together in New York, where they could legally marry. The ferry boat ride to them represents the promise of freedom and a chance at a place where hate and bias are not so intense.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Wedding Band. The main theme of Wedding Band is race and racial discrimination. The play is built around this concept. The question throughout the play is, will the relationship survive despite all the odds and the pressures of society stacked against it. The play looks at the situation of an interracial couple through the lens of the time. This leads to another closely related theme of human rights. The play itself was written in the 1960’s and this creates a unique mirror into the society of the 1960’s. In my opinion, the play takes place during 1918 not just because it created a backdrop for events in the play, like Herman’s illness and WWI, but looking at civil rights issues, from a time when the civil rights movement was being born, I think this allowed people to think with a more open mind. The playwright was speaking about an issue that transcends a particular time period, but is instead an issue that is still relevant today. Also, the theme of freedom is forefront in the play. Julia wants freedom, in many different forms. For one, she wants freedom from societal restrictions and laws against her marrying Herman. She wants freedom against the discrimination, judgement, and isolation she experiences from those around her. She wants freedom to settle down and have a home, without having to move around like she has been forced to her whole life.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Wedding Band? Perhaps you might argue for several different kinds of family in this particular play. What do you think? Herman’s family creates quite the obstacle for Julia. They reject her, and Herman’s mother explicitly tells Julia “I’m as high over you as Mount Everest over the sea. White reigns supreme… I’m white, you can’t change that.” They are Herman’s immediate family, and they are a close opposition to Herman and Julia’s relationship. The insult battle between Herman’s mother and Julia expresses both sides of the racial debate of the time, leading to a climax where Julia wants nothing more to do with any white people saying she will wash all the white out of her house. Although wary at first, I think Julia finds a sense of home among her neighbors, even in the end giving the wedding band and tickets to Mattie so that she can be free.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Wedding Band. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
We are in a city by the sea in South Carolina in 1918 on a summer Saturday. The characters involved in the beginning include include the protagonist Julia, her lover Herman, their neighbors Lula, Fanny, Mattie, and Mattie’s daughter, Teeta, along with Princess, a white child whom Mattie cares for.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? NOTE: Arguments might be made for several different points where stasis is broken. Be prepared to defend your point of view, if different from other students.
I believe that the intrusion is when Herman falls ill with influenza, causing his sister, Annabelle, and his mother, Thelma, to enter the play.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The time that the events take place is unique because it speaks to the challenges of an interracial couple long before the civil rights movement. As well, the play is set against the backdrop of South Carolina in 1918, when it was illegal for interracial couples to marry.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
“Will Julia’s and Herman’s relationship survive the racism?”. “Can they brave the prejudice that surrounds them?” And after the intrusion, “will Herman survive?”.
5. Use Julia to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken by that character. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Wedding Band the wants of Julia are in flux. They change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual or individuals, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles in the play.
I think it’s clear that at the beginning of the play, Julia wants 2 things: to marry Herman and to be accepted by those around her. In the case of the beginning of the play, she wants to be accepted by her new neighbors. This means that the obstacle in her way is society. The society of the South at the time made it impossible for her to marry Herman, but because she lives with him, and has for 10 years, she is isolated from much of society, even other African Americans.
When Herman falls ill, Julia wants him to survive the sickness and she wants them to be free of all the racial prejudice that has affected and separated both of them. This again leaving Julia to face off against society.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Wedding Band.
The most theatrical moments are when Herman falls ill, when Herman’s mother comes in, Julia and Herman’s mother shout insults at each other, and in the end, when Herman is dying in Julia’s arms.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Wedding Band. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
First of all, as the title suggests, the wedding band is important because it symbolizes marriage. I think it’s important to note that Julia wears it on a chain around her neck, it’s seen as something close, but not attained. She cannot wear the wedding band and be legally married because of the laws, and is forced to wear it only as a necklace.
Another image is of Jacob’s ladder. It’s mentioned in a song Julia sings, and it references the Bible passage where Jacob dreams of a ladder that connects the earth to heaven. Julia makes the connection that on her way to heaven, she has to climb each rung one by one, on her own, highlighting her own struggle to feel accepted by others and free from God’s judgement.
Another image is of the ferry boat and New York. At the end of the story, Julia describes to a dying Herman, the image of them leaving on the ferry boat to start a new life together in New York, where they could legally marry. The ferry boat ride to them represents the promise of freedom and a chance at a place where hate and bias are not so intense.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Wedding Band.
The main theme of Wedding Band is race and racial discrimination. The play is built around this concept. The question throughout the play is, will the relationship survive despite all the odds and the pressures of society stacked against it. The play looks at the situation of an interracial couple through the lens of the time. This leads to another closely related theme of human rights. The play itself was written in the 1960’s and this creates a unique mirror into the society of the 1960’s. In my opinion, the play takes place during 1918 not just because it created a backdrop for events in the play, like Herman’s illness and WWI, but looking at civil rights issues, from a time when the civil rights movement was being born, I think this allowed people to think with a more open mind. The playwright was speaking about an issue that transcends a particular time period, but is instead an issue that is still relevant today.
Also, the theme of freedom is forefront in the play. Julia wants freedom, in many different forms. For one, she wants freedom from societal restrictions and laws against her marrying Herman. She wants freedom against the discrimination, judgement, and isolation she experiences from those around her. She wants freedom to settle down and have a home, without having to move around like she has been forced to her whole life.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Wedding Band? Perhaps you might argue for several different kinds of family in this particular play. What do you think?
Herman’s family creates quite the obstacle for Julia. They reject her, and Herman’s mother explicitly tells Julia “I’m as high over you as Mount Everest over the sea. White reigns supreme… I’m white, you can’t change that.” They are Herman’s immediate family, and they are a close opposition to Herman and Julia’s relationship. The insult battle between Herman’s mother and Julia expresses both sides of the racial debate of the time, leading to a climax where Julia wants nothing more to do with any white people saying she will wash all the white out of her house.
Although wary at first, I think Julia finds a sense of home among her neighbors, even in the end giving the wedding band and tickets to Mattie so that she can be free.